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Elijah Morningstar
|history= Elijah James Morningstar was never meant to be the Chosen One. Among the Brethren of the Way, his family was a minor one, late coming to the faith and with little of financial means to contribute. The cult had existed on a farm in Upstate New York for a little over three decades, preparing for the inevitable Second Coming, arming themselves for Apocalypse and War, practicing stick-fighting and martial arts for the day when the heathen came for them and their children. The Morningstars were just another family out of two dozen. Lesser, even, for having only the one child, blue-eyed and angelic Eli. But, by the age of thirteen, it was clear Eli was different. He was stronger than the other boys, faster. He could fall from high places and get up unharmed. And, after a long interrogation by Father Malachai himself made clear...he heard their prayers. Although John David Morningstar might claim fatherhood of Eli, it was clear to the Council of Elders that Elijah Morningstar was the One Chosen, a new prophet heralding the return of the True Messiah. Eli immediately was pushed into deep spiritual study, councilling, intensive training and indoctrination. By the age of 16, he had been mostly prepared to take leadership, sitting at the right hand of the Council and Father Malachai, performing blessings and such. Malachai hid a jealous heart, however, having always intending himself or one of his children to be the One Chosen. In wrath, one night, he struck Eli, stabbing him in the belly with a scythe. Eli fell to his knees and Malachai joined him, the two, man and boy, pooling their blood together on the floor, Malachais' blood mingling with Eli's on the floor. Rather than teaching Malachai mercy, it began a much darker period in Eli's life. The crucifixions began shortly thereafter, secret ceremonies for Malachai and his closest allies, Eli crying as he was pinned to a cross and made to suffer, the others enduring their own stigmata from proximity to him, the farmhouse where the ritual occurred too far away from teh rest of the cult for him to heal enough to prevent the wounds from spreading. The rituals became monthly and then weekly, almost addictive to Malachai's fevered brain. Until finally, the rest of the Brethren intervened, raiding a secret meeting with torches in hand. Rather than saving Eli, they saw his crucifixion, his participation, as blasphemy. His own father lit the torch at his feet but, not understanding, they watched his suffering and fell to their knees themselves. THey burned, one and all, Eli's father and mother at the foot of the cross, Eli himself like a living, breathing torch, screaming into the night until the flames took his throat. The fire could be seen for miles and miles and it was the life forces of the arriving paramedics, firefighters and media that saved him, his eyes flicking open again beneath a patina of ash. Too late, for the rest of the Brethren were dead. Only he, resurrected, lived on. Eli never spoke again, his vocal cords never healing correctly. He spent two years in foster care, shuffling from home to home, silent and sullen, until he was eighteen. The only benefit he got from his times as a ward was learning American Sign Language, allowing him to speak again without sound. He told no one of his power, praying every night for a calling. After he turned eighteen, he was on the streets, living a beggar's life, when he saw on the news word of civil unrest in Mutant Town. A green-skinned woman on screen, her hair gone, cried into the camera, begging for someone to help them, to save them. Eli had his sign. He hitch-hiked into New York, even as the voices rose and became louder and louder. He would have to endure. He had his mission, his redemption, and he would fulfill it, however much it cost. }} Category:Character